Natalie Vartanian's Blog

Wide Open Spaces of Wyoming

Monday, July 25 – Zack made us homemade biscuits for breakfast. We ate them with some butter and jam, had our tea and then hit the road again. So sweet of him! Sally and I both were a bit sad to leave having had such a great weekend with Zack and his friends, yet the road was a’callin again. We stopped along the way to Yellowstone to go hiking in Gallatin National Forest, Montana, which is close to Big Sky. Obviously the name spoke to us loud and clear: Hellroaring Trailhead. Hiked to a cool roaring rapid where we parked it a bit near a bridge that went over the river. We had planned to have a business brainstorming meeting and serendipitously the time happened to be right during our hike and boy did we brainstorm big time. We came up with the perfect name for the biz AND got a lot clearer on what we are up to creating!! We had lunch in the RV after the hike and proceeded to drive to Yellowstone National Park. Checked out Gibbon Falls and took some photos of Mammoth Falls. We chose to settle for the night in the town right outside of the North Entrance to the park, Gardiner, Montana) since the Mammoth campground was full and you couldn’t park in any of the parking areas. Technically we have not slept in Wyoming yet! Before bed, we sat on top of the RV to look at the stars and check out the lightning show in the distance. AND SO EXCITING … we bought the domain name for the awesome new project that Sally and I are about to launch … Girlsgonemoto.com!


Sally and I hiking the Hellroaring Trail in the Gallatin National Forest, Montana


Sally and I at Gallatin Falls in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming


Mammoth Falls, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Tuesday, July 26 – Since Boiling River was closed for another week or so we took our time in the morning before heading back in to Yellowstone. We apparently needed the time as Saboteurs (the voices) started popping up about the project we are embarking on. Even though it is an extension of what we want to do, the mere fact that it is a different version of it triggered all sorts of fear. It is times like these that I am so grateful to have a coach as a travel/business partner since we can talk it out and adopt a new perspective about it, even if just to try it on for 24 hours. Once we were in Yellowstone again, we saw Beryl Spring, Cascade Springs and Old Faithful. Some vistas more beautiful than others but all simply amazing! Driving through Yellowstone also makes you realize just how tiny you are in comparison to the mass of nature all around you! Something else that happened during our day was getting the news from Aaron that his best friend’s mom passed away and that was SO heart breaking. I couldn’t help crying for his loss, his friend’s loss and all of the experiences she would be missing out on. It is inevitable that news of a death will have you reflect on your own life and question whether you are truly living it, feeling fulfilled by it, making the most of it, etc. Never more than in that moment did I feel that I am living the life I have always envisioned for myself; I would not change a single thing. I want what I have and I have what I want. There is spaciousness in my life I have very rarely experienced and I know it is because I am purposefully and diligently working on creating my ideal vision for my life on a daily basis. Such a foreign concept (this wanting what I have) but it inspires me to share that opportunity with others … give permission for the possibilities in other people’s lives. After a gorgeous drive through Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Forest, we made it to Jackson Tuesday night. Picked a spot to park close to City Park on Milward and I went for a walk with puppy before bedtime to do some late night exploring. We got a good feeling about Jackson even driving through the main boulevard in downtown.


Sally and I at Cascade Springs Overlook, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming


Cascade Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming


Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming


Grand Teton Mountains, Wyoming

Wednesday, July 27 – We went for a run in the morning around downtown and THROUGH downtown. Try running through a busy touristy city and add a big dog to the mix. It proved quite interesting. Today was mostly a work day. I went to City Park to work (which I am quickly loving as a mobile office option) while Sally did her coaching calls. We did some exercise in the park, threw the football around some and got cackled by an asshole walking by. He felt the need to yell out that we throw like girls, yet when Sally told him to come show us then how to throw like a boy (because we are obviously girls that have never learned how to throw a football properly), he just kept walking on by with his son. JERK! Oh well … can’t win them all and not everyone is a saint. We met up with Johnny late afternoon for a dip in the rushing creek. You know the saying “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt”? Well, someone got hurt and that someone was me. Coach and Johnny’s dog Cyrus were playing, rambunctiously, and when they were running back towards the car they knocked me over from behind and I scratched up my foot. Sally took care of me once we got to Dane’s. She was saying she has a feeling she is going to have boys when she has kids so might as well get used to taking care of scrapes, cuts, etc. Probably started drinking a bit too early to numb the pain. We BBQ’d at Dane’s (Johnny’s friend who he is living with or at least in front of his house in HIS trailer). Then we headed out to Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, which consisted of shots, dancing, finally having a dance partner (Brad from Laramie) and meeting a new friend (Daniel, the guitar player from the band that played at the bar that night). We made a brief stop over at the Virginia, hearing that they had Karaoke, but since I did not have my ID I could not get in to the Virginia, but Daniel was sweet enough to stay with me and we chatted it up until everyone called it a night.


The walkways of downtown Jackson, WY


Sally and I at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, downtown Jackson, WY


Johnny, Sally and I at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, downtown Jackson, WY

Thursday, July 28 – I pretty much worked ALL day and nursed a nasty hang over (SO many shots the night before, what were we THINKING!). Had to even take a nap. We both did actually. I was going to go to a coffee shop a couple of blocks down to plug in the laptop and work, however when I walked by the Bus Shelter we were parked next to I saw they had outlets near the benches outside. Since I would rather be outside any day, I just set up shop right there. Coach and Sally kept me company on and off throughout the day. We had dinner and managed to get a walk in. We took the street near the Bus Shelter straight up to Snow King Mountain and hiked up a bit. As is our luck, we stumbled upon the coolest cemetery ever up in the mountain: totally over-grown and really creative plots of land. Were I planning to get buried when I die, that would be what it would look like. From the cemetery there were great views of Jackson, the Teton Mountains and we could even hear the county fair in the distance.



My new cuddle buddy!


Coach keeping me company at my Bus Shelter office, Jackson, WY

Friday, July 29 – Slept in as we were still trying to catch up on our sleep. Walked around downtown Jackson some more so we could be total tourists and take a picture under the antler arch park entrance. Johnny picked us up and we went for a beautiful 6-mile hike on the Cache Creek Trail in Bridger National Forest. So pretty and we had the rushing creek accompanying us during the entire hike. After our hike, Sally and I laid out on the grass near where we parked and it prompted us to do our exercises. Three sets of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, dips and calf raises. We are back on “Mission Rocking Body” since we want to get back to our Costa Rica physiques. Also funniest shit happened with plugging the RV in to the Bus Shelter. Sally got that idea a couple of days ago, that we should park the RV in front of the bus shelter and literally hook up to the outlet on the oustside of the building, yet we couldn’t work up the nerve to do it. But what with computers needing to be charged up, as well as phones, we chose to be little rebels and pull right up to the Bus Shelter and plug right on in. We duct taped the extension cord down and voila lights (Safety First, which we did get props on when we got BUSTED). Not even 45 minutes later we hear the knock on the window and knew that was the end of our endless electricity! Of course, OUR luck and the small world that it is, the police officer was from Glendora and his sister lives in South Pasadena. Of course we were chatting it up. Too crazy! Turns out in Jackson it is the city law that you cannot sleep in your vehicle. Who knew!? He was kind enough to inform us about that law and point us in the direction of the RV parking lot where we COULD sleep for the night. We had slept in the RV in the streets Tuesday and Thursday nights and had no idea! We proceeded to drive to the RV parking lot and called it a night. We were definitely giggling about that incident for a while.


Such TOURISTS! Antler Arches, downtown Jackson, WY


Cache Creek Trail, Bridger National Forest, Jackson, WY


Downtown Jackson, WY (With Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in the background)


Our stealth electricity "borrow" job!

Saturday, July 30 – Another road trip day. It’s so funny how some places we decide to stay for a day or two, others three or four and honestly there is no rhyme or reason to any of it. Sally and I truly go by how we feel, moment by moment. Today it felt like it was time for us to push off from Jackson and start the slow trek towards Colorado. At first we thought to stop we should stop in Rock Springs, which is about four hours away and felt like a good mid-way point to Laramie. However once we got to Rock Springs and realized how tiny of a town it was, we decided to keep on keepin on and drive all the way to Laramie. 384 miles. Plenty of time and space to process, day-dream, reflect and vision! During the drive, it became clear to us what the purpose of our next endeavor would be. Sally had a hit of inspiration and from there it was like a geyser of ideas erupted. It is so exciting to see how these random events on our trip (even as far back as earlier this year simply talking about our initial road trip) are coming together and forming something amazing. We got to Laramie around 8:30pm or 9:00pm and found a park to stop at for the night. Yet the park was really dark, there were people walking around and it simply did not feel right to either of us. So we decided to listen to our intuition (“It does not feel safe here”) and drive to the Best Western near the freeway exit and park in their parking lot for the evening. We thought: “Who knows? We may even get free Continental Breakfast in the morning.” Ha ha!


Driving along the 191 from Jackson to Rock Springs, WY


Driving along the 80 to Laramie, WY

posted by Natalie Vartanian @ 7:45 AM